Numerous systems for producing visual images and displaying visual information such as pictures, text and full motion video sequences were developed over a century ago. One such technology developed utilizes rotating assemblies having intermittently illuminated elements to produce text or basic shapes. The rotation, combined with rapidly changing illuminated segments produces a series of flashing frames that blend to form a recognizable image, or series of images. This effect is broadly known as persistence of vision and is more specifically referred to as “scanning”. In modern devices that utilize persistence of vision technology, electronic information about an image to be displayed is used to synchronize the illumination of individual illuminating elements at specific positions during the rotation.
There are generally two types of persistence of vision displays currently known in the art; cylindrical and planar. A cylindrical display rotates an LED display in a manner that creates images in a cylindrical manner, as if the images were on the side of a soda can. A planar display rotates the LEDs so that they appear in a flat disk shaped area. Within the planar display, small bright illuminating elements are typically arranged along an elongated flat member. An axle is positioned at about the mid-point of the flat member, similar to an airplane propeller, and a motor is provided to rotate the member at a relatively high speed. As the flat member rotates, the blur perceived by the eye makes the rotating member appear to be a flat circle. This virtual circle formed by the spinning member forms a visual image when color, brightness and timing of the illuminating sections on the member are properly synchronized.
One of the earliest examples of image producing systems that utilized a rotating member, a series of illuminating devices and a system of synchronizing to display an image was developed and patented by Paul Gottlieb Nipkow from Germany. Nipkows' system of receiving and reproducing images utilized a selenium photocell and a (rotating) scanning disk. In order to capture an image, his early (1884) system employed a scanning disk with a single row of holes arranged so they spiraled inward toward the center of the circle. The disk revolved in front of a light sensitive plate on which a lens formed an image. Each hole passed across, or “scanned” a ring shaped portion of the image. The holes traced contiguous concentric circles so that in one revolution of the disk, the entire image was scanned, converting a visible image to a series of electrical signals. A similar rotating disk system was used to reproduce the image that had been scanned. By rapidly switching a series of lights aligned with the holes in the rotating disk, synchronized illumination passed through holes tracing an image with many concentric circles of light.
Similar systems that followed Nipkow's original designs include developments by J. L. Baird in England and F. Jenkins in the United States, both of whom successfully demonstrated television systems using scanning disks in 1926. Such systems produced 60 to 100 scanned lines to provide recognizable black and white images that were high quality by 1926 standards.
Research and development of video display systems that employed rotating mechanical scanning came to a stop after the nearly simultaneous invention of electronic scanning systems by Philo T. Farnsworth in 1927 and by Vladimir K. Zworykin in 1928. Both the Farnsworth and the Zworykin systems of the mid and late 1920's scanned an electron beam back and forth across the inside of a glass cathode ray tube, striking a phosphorescent surface plane, causing images to appear on a glass picture tube. The electronic scanning picture tube designs developed by both inventors became the foundations for the cathode ray tube that was further perfected and marketed in the first home television receivers. Significant picture tube improvements were developed by Allen B. DuMont who increased the reliability, quality and display size of picture tubes during the 1930's. The same electron scanning technology has evolved into the high quality glass picture tubes that are still found in present day color (picture tube type) televisions and computer monitors.
The aforementioned inception of electronic picture tubes during the late 1920's effectively signaled the end of mechanical rotating image display systems by the 1930's. Early picture tubes were essentially sealed, low maintenance systems with no mechanical components. Such improvements rendered rotary image display systems obsolete. The illumination systems, propulsion means, synchronization circuits and power requirements of rotary mechanical visual display systems made them heavy, bulky, inefficient, unreliable and of marginal value due to low video quality when compared to cathode ray tube visual displays. Thus, cathode ray tubes became the industry standard by the 1930's. Consequently, rotational scanning technology as a means of image display had largely been forgotten until very recently with the implementation of a few new products, and with the new technology disclosed herein. Several recent products employ new uses and variations thereof based on illuminated rotational scanning display systems. Likewise, these newer developments define a group of prior art that are related to the new and useful invention described herein.
One such prior art development is presented in U.S. Publication No. 2004/0102223 to Lo. Lo describes a rotating LED device that receives data by infrared transmission and then displays such data by synchronizing the illumination display of a row of rotating LEDs. The device is specifically embodied as both a functional and ornamental device that is used to display incoming telephone caller numbers as a caller ID apparatus, and further displays other alpha-numeric information such as the time, date and a few pre-programmed seasonal greetings that are stored in the unit's internal memory. Since the rotating member containing the LED array must synchronize the display of information as rapidly as it rotates, Lo describes a system that transmits infrared signals to a rotating illuminating member, from an infrared transmitter located in the stationary base unit. This effectively separates the actual rotating member and LED array from its support circuits that need not rotate in order to produce a visual image. The infrared system described provides a wireless path by which information to be displayed is beamed directly to a small infrared receiver that is part of the rotating display system. This design minimizes the amount of parts that must rotate, thus minimizing rotational mass, minimizing the weight of moving parts. However, because the device derives both a positional reference point and data concurrently as a predetermined point on the rotating arm passes the infrared sender, the amount of data that can be transferred is very limited.
Thus, Lo's device is limited to displaying alpha-numeric data, caller ID information, clock settings and a series of pre-determined greetings through a telephone interface. Lo's design does not disclose hardware, systems, methods or other provisions capable of providing motion picture sequences that are user selected, or supplied though an external source such as a digital media system, DVD, hard drive or other data storage device. Moreover, like the other existing prior art, the system is monochromatic, and thus has support circuitry that limits data and image display throughput to the monochromatic color output of the included display devices. Even if the LED array disclosed on the device were made multi colored for ornamental purposes, the internal processing system is only designed to synchronize the on/off LED array switching to display alpha numeric data and a few low resolution symbols. Thus, its hardware and software cannot support streaming color video to display life like color images or color full motion video since the system is not wired and programmed to support true color synchronized switching or related data throughput.
Another spinning illuminated novelty device with synchronized light sources is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,575,585 to Nelson, et al. This system is essentially a small, portable, battery operated amusement device that spins an array of lights. A small control circuit is located on the rotating member, proximal to the light array. The control circuit contains predetermined embedded ornamental patterns that cause the light array to illuminate in a predetermined pattern, synchronous to their speed. This causes an ornamental lighted display of shapes, colors, images or text to appear, depending on the predetermined pattern data integral to the control circuit. The embodiment shown uses a rotating contact system, such as a slip-ring style contact, to directly energize a control circuit and lights on the moving blades. This allows the stationary battery pack to directly connect its power wires to the illumination system and illumination control circuit on the moving rotor.
Because the system described by Chernick is primarily designed to be a very affordable children's toy, it is not capable of the advanced requirements necessary to display true color synchronized switching. The control circuit described is primarily a low cost pre-programmed device that displays a few visual patterns of varying colors. User selectability of pre-programmed patterns is not present, to keep production cost low, and minimize user interface parts. Therefore, upon turning the toy on, illumination patterns are generated by the digital controller in a predetermined manner. The user does not select from predetermined groups of images or messages to be displayed. Thus, the preferred embodiment shows only a simple on/off hardwired switch as the only human interface device present.
U.S. Publication No. 2004/0105256 to Jones discloses virtual color generating windmills, decorative spinners, and ornamental devices powered by solar or wind energy. Although very similar in ornamental value to the above mentioned illuminating toy by Chernick, the windmills disclosed by Jones utilize wind or solar energy to power integrated illumination systems that add to the visual interest of the windmill or similar outdoor ornament. In operation, as the windmill turns, sets of small LEDs scan rotational patterns of light creating an ornamental effect. While this system employs rotational scanning, images displayed contain little or no parameters for user selectability, and are incapable of displaying life like color images or color full motion video.
Another device which employs rotational image display is the I-Top, a small, portable device for gaming and amusement. The I-Top by Irwin Toys (I-Toys) is a pocket sized, battery operated spinning top with an integrated array of 8 LEDs. Using a button switch on the I-top, a user can select from a series of pre-programmed games that are integral to the unit's controller. Once the user selects a game, then spins the I-Top, the toy displays scores, messages and animations through its array of LEDs that form a virtual screen while spinning. A stable display image is accomplished by using a built in magnetic compass that always knows the instantaneous position of the top, and synchronizes the illumination display output flashes for each LED accordingly based on rotational position.
Due to the compass based position sensor disposed inside the I-Top, the beginning point of any chain of words on the I-Top is always pointing to Earth's magnetic North. Hence, magnetic north is used as a reference for the LED synchronization, and to calibrate in which direction or position the output text should appear.
While compass based positional synchronization works very well for devices which rotate in a horizontal plane, a traditional compass based system will not provide adequate positional synchronization for devices which rotate in vertical or near vertical planes. The internal compass can become confused if the azimuth or angular orientation of its intended operational plane is shifted to a degree at which it cannot properly track the Earth's magnetic field. In addition, proximity to various metals, magnetic fields, and radio frequency interference from cellular phones, vehicle electronics and other high frequency sources also interferes with compass function via direct magnetic field distortion or by subsequent inductive jamming of sensitive compass support circuitry. This confuses positional synchronization, and thus would corrupt and distort the images output on the illuminated array, making the device unsuitable for use in conjunction with vehicles and/or vehicle wheels.
Other devices which utilize scanning technology may be found on the internet. These devices are commonly known online as “propeller clocks.” The name “propeller clock” is a slang term that describes many persistence of vision displays that arose as a niche hobby after Robert Blick created what is presumed to be the first persistence of vision LED display that displayed a clock face. The clock was comprised of a rotating LED array that spun much like an airplane propeller, thus initiating the term “propeller clock” that has become a generic name for many similar rotationally scanned devices. More specifically, most of these devices take the form of a rotating array of LEDs, a motor system to power the rotation, a system of delivering power to the motor and rotating LEDs, and a system to synchronously energize the LEDs, thus allowing the rotating array to visually display one or more desirable patterns.
In general, this body of prior art addresses and solves some of the technical challenges that surround all rotational displays. These technical challenges include construction of rotating displays, selection of appropriate high brightness LEDs for monochromatic displays, proper balance and vibration control of rotating displays, methods of delivering reliable electrical power to the rotating portion of displays, methods and hardware for position sensing on the display, data delivery for displaying images on rotating arrays, programmable integrated circuit (PIC) programming and related costs.
While all of the prior art devices are capable of providing relatively simple displays, none of the prior art devices are capable of providing true color or streaming video. In addition, all of the prior art devices display images directly from their plane of rotation. That is, the devices twist the (normally horizontal) ground plane of the image or text around the axis of rotation causing, text, numbers and animations to be displayed and scrolled in a circular pattern along an artificial bottom line. This causes the user to read text that bends around the circle of rotation, as opposed to across the circle of rotation. This design feature is common to the prior art and is a result of a not defining a real horizontal reference within the actual programming code, data processes and internal feedback loops that process and ultimately synchronize output data to illuminate sections of a rotational display. Not defining a real visual ground plane reference for display purposes, and further not correlating a visual display ground plane with the horizon or actual ground, eliminates related programming complexities and internal algorithms. The non-presence of this feature in the prior art allows for the use of a simple, low cost microprocessor controllers with limited complexity. However, the devices can be difficult to read and render the possibility of full motion video displays across the entire virtual disk impossible.
Still yet, the geometry of all prior planar display devices have some object or component mounted at the center of the circle of rotation that blocks the presence of illuminating elements. Thus, the total display area that could potentially produce an illuminated image is hindered by a “hole” or circular blank spot at the middle of the circle. This geometric limitation, which also applies to and is later addressed by the invention disclosed herein, provides another reason why text and images are displayed in a manner to twist around the center of rotation. Simply put, if the center does not have illumination hardware, any image programmed to intersect the center of the circle would not display properly.
This same limitation also affected the quality of early scanning image systems, like those of Nipkow and Baird. It is also of importance to mention that the aforementioned display systems of the late 1800s and early 1900s, in many cases, did not utilize the full optical range of their scanning disks for this very reason. Instead, a dark colored shield would cover most of the scanning disk displays, and a small window cut in the shield would usually frame a small area toward the outside of the disk, where linear scanning velocities were the greatest. Through the window, a small portion of the scanning disk was visible, and the image or television program was synchronized to appear in this window. The dark colored shield that covered the majority of the scanning disk essentially prevented the observer from viewing areas that were optically distorted or incapable of displaying visual imagery, as was the axis of rotation and the areas proximal thereto.
Further yet, the prior art does not disclose or suggest a rotational display device which operates in conjunction with a motor vehicle. Nor does the prior art disclose any of the numerous variations and enhancements to wheel mounted display systems that are described herein in regards to the present invention.
Accordingly, it is a primary objective of the instant invention to provide a high quality rotational display apparatus in combination with a vehicular wheel to provide ornamental and functional displays.
It is a further objective of the instant invention to provide a rotational display apparatus having the capability of producing a true color images that are substantially equivalent to that of a modern day TV or high quality computer monitor.
It is yet another objective of the instant invention to provide a rotational display apparatus that is capable of displaying both cylindrical and planar type displays in a single apparatus.
It is a still further objective of the instant invention to provide a rotational display apparatus which extends the illuminating elements to the center of the wheel to allow center-crossing of images.
Yet another objective of the instant invention is to provide a rotational display apparatus in combination with a vehicular wheel capable of providing virtual headlight, tail light, brake light, and directional signals.
Still yet another objective of the instant invention is to provide a rotational display apparatus in combination with a vehicular wheel capable of displaying text and images across a linear bottom line.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with any accompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of this invention. Any drawings contained herein constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof.